Years Later
by jaynon
Summary: Nico di Angelo hadn't been seen for years. Soon after the ending of the second war, he disappeared, as he had promised Jason. He had been presumed dead, as there had been no contact whatsoever with either camp. Not even Hazel knew if he was alive, but he was. He had tried to start a new slate. The new slate had ended up being a life on the internet with a new friend along the way.
1. Chapter 1

**yellooooo~ to be honest, I just wanted to have a vlogger!Nico... xD I like him more happy as well, so I had to write this... **

...

Nico di Angelo hadn't been seen for years. Soon after the ending of the second war, he disappeared, as he had promised Jason. He had been presumed dead, as there had been no contact _whatsoever _with either camp. Not even Hazel knew if he was alive, but he was. He had tried to start a new slate.

The new slate had ended up being a life on the internet with a new friend along the way.

…

Nico knew how to smile. He knew how to laugh. It was a hard thing to relearn, and some days it seldom happened, but he knew how to. With his new start, he was trying to be somewhat normal. Well, he tried to have a proper education, at the very least.

It was honestly the worst experience of his life, the first few weeks of school. He hadn't gone to school since he was ten, and so he wasn't well versed on… anything.

Nico had been tutored in math by dead mathematicians, sure, and history by… well, dead people in general, but that hadn't prepared him for actual school. His father, who didn't care whatsoever about the new start thing, got him into BAG. Nico wasn't sure why, but it was probably to watch him and laugh at whatever cruel joke BAG had in store for him.

To this day, Nico wasn't sure if putting him in BAG was a cruel joke. But he thanked his father silently because he had bet his best friend at BAG.

…

Sadie Kane was a… _different _girl. She streaked her hair with multiple colors, sometimes at the same time, and had the weirdest personality Nico had ever even _heard _of. He didn't even want to describe her, honestly.

But she had talked to him when everyone else ignored him, and for that, he thanked her. She was a bit too hyper to hang out with all the time, but for a long time, she was his only friend.

…

It was pretty unwise to start a YouTube channel, for many reasons. One, the people he was trying to get away from could find him there, and two… he knew that he would become obsessed.

It had started when he started appearing in Sadie's videos. She was a pretty popular gamer on there, not as hugely popular as the Yogscast, but still popular nonetheless. He was shy at first, only sneaking in random comments, usually making fun of the games.

Sadie's fans, however, liked that. They asked her if he had a channel, and when Sadie grinned at him and told him he should make one… he couldn't deny his only friend of something she wanted. (At this point, Nico was extremely scared of losing yet another someone he had grown accustomed to.)

Nico still isn't sure if that was the best or worst experience of his life.

…

"Hey," Nico said to the camera. He rubbed his tired eyes and stated, "It's 3 am, but I felt like vlogging, so." he shrugged with his hands in the way all his subscribers loved.

"Pft. I saw someone I used to know, and _god. _Insane how much people can change and like… not change? I don't know, it's 3 am,"

He snickered to himself. "This is definitely going on my bad vlog channel. By the way, if I for some reason don't. Put it on there. The channel. The bad vlog channel. Anyway, my bad vlog channel is called NicoHasCrappyVlogs. I'm really original, you know that."

…

Nico is 17 years old and isn't quite sure what he's trying to do with his life. He still gets monster attacks, but usually he's able to deal with them quickly and he's never been hurt enough to have to go back to camp. He doesn't regret walking away from the camps. He regrets not saying goodbye, sometimes, but his life is so much better now.

He opens his laptop, which is a Mac and he doesn't understand PCs whatsoever, and Tumblr is already open. He reloads the page and his dash is filled with #Troyler. He blinks and clicks on one of the videos, which is of _the kiss _and he has to stop himself from whisper-screaming because he is the son of Hades, he does not fangirl.

He hears Sadie scream, and her room is pretty far away from his— he lives in the 21st Nome now— so she must've found the kiss as well, or something equally as exciting. He ignores her and opens a new tab, playing Breaking Benjamin and resuming his English essay.

…

Nico di Angelo had changed in the four years away from the demigod world, and in his point of view, he had changed in a good way.

…

**Really cheesy, I know, sorry. It was in my head oops. WILL CONTAIN AT LEAST ONE OC SORRY SO SORRY**


	2. Chapter 2

"TLDR, don't join Tumblr. It will corrupt you, your humor, your criminal record, everything." Nico turned off the camera and flopped down on his bed.

"God," he muttered. Though it was a sunny day, Nico heard thunder and he sighed. "Gods," he corrected himself. He had picked up Sadie's habit of saying 'god' instead of 'gods.'

He opened the Tumblr app, which was ironic as he had just made a video saying that nobody should join Tumblr as it corrupts your innocence, so on so on, but hey.

People still weren't over the Troyler kiss. He could tell from his dash, or maybe he was following too many Troyler blogs… Nico shrugged at the thought. Probably because of that follow party on the 4th.

Nico checked Thalia's blog, and he didn't know how she managed it as she was a hunter of Artemis, but he followed it. She was the only one from his "old life" that knew he was still alive. Saying that he remembered the day well was cheesy, once again, but true.

It was fall, and the leaves were dripping water on his hair. Rubbing his head, Nico walked back from school. At the end of the street, there was a maybe sixteen year-old girl. He froze, not because she was 'hot' or anything, but because he knew her, and she looked annoyed.

"Di Angelo," she said as he reluctantly walked near her. She didn't look annoyed, she looked angry. "So why, pray tell, have you fallen out of contact with both camps? Even Hazel?"

Nico had the decency to look sheepish. "I, um…" he shook himself. "Why does it matter?"

Thalia arched an eyebrow. "Why does it matter? Because, Nico, people are worried. Jason said—"

"What did Jason say?" Nico clenched his fists. If that stupid blonde had told anyone about his secret, screw the new start, he was dead.

"Jason said that you were going to leave after the war was other with. You did, but you didn't even say goodbye, not even to Hazel. We do care, Nico, even if you want to deny it." Thalia wasn't very good with pep talks.

Nico stared at her for a moment, then lowered his shoulders. "I wanted to try again," he muttered crossly. "I don't want to live as the person I was." He could feel Thalia staring at him, silently judging.

"Hazel was crying. Percy blamed himself. They searched for you." She said, now scowling. Nico looked away.

"I…" he whispered. "I'm sorry, okay? But… don't tell them I'm alive. Please. I want to start again, I really do." He was almost crying now, and he hated it, hated how weak he was emotionally and physically.

Thalia softened. "Fine. But you hurt them, and don't expect me to fully forgive you, okay?" Then she smiled at him, and he was reminded of Bianca. Thalia and Bianca had the same smile.

She had left then, and hadn't said a word about him to either camp. She came by sometimes, showing him music, mostly rock bands, and Nico enjoyed her company.

Thalia never tagged her posts, which annoyed him to no end, but he supposed she was pretty busy. Her ask wasn't open, either, but Nico had her phone number. Thalia liked to try to act like a real cousin, especially after what happened a little more than a year ago…

Nico hummed something under his breath as he grabbed his laptop. He had to finish editing this video tonight if he wanted it to be posted Tuesday morning…

…

The year 2008 saw the release of the now legendary Black Butler. The show whipped audiences into a frenzy… Nico was watching 'The Making of Black Butler II" for the third time. He couldn't help it, he loved the show. Plus, this OVA was priceless.

…

After watching the OVA, Nico came to a realization.

Rin Matsuoka from Free! was Grell Sutcliff's child.

…

Nico was walking toward the park when he heard somethin— a growl, from behind him. He turned, unsheathing his hidden sword just in time. The hellhound was smacked backwards, but staggered to its paws and jumped at him again. Nico stabbed it in the chest, but as it died it scratched his face.

"Ugh," he muttered as he bled. Luckily, Nico had some ambrosia in his pocket, and so the wound healed as he continued walking to the park. In honesty, he was only going to the park for the swing sets, and he went every day, but he was so bored not going. It was a habit.

Bzzzt, his phone buzzed almost as soon as he arrived at the park. It was a text from his YouTube friend Kale. why is homework so hard

Nico snorted, and texted back. Idk. Math? Kale's reply came quickly. Yah.

Kale lived in England, like every other YouTuber, and they had only met once, when Kale had come over to America. Kale had more subscribers than Nico, and was a lot happier as well. Probably not because of the subscriber count, though.

Nico threw off his jacket and tossed his phone onto it as he jumped onto a swing. He loved the swings. He went to them out of habit, sure, but somehow they made him happier. Not like he was flying, like some sappy romantic might say, but… happy. Just happy.

"Ma anche per te, c'è una luce," he sang under his breath. "che ad un'altra vita ti conduce," The lyrics calmed him, because when he was happy sometimes he looked a little crazy and Nico wanted to spare any passerby's from looking at that…

He smiled toothlessly and jumped of the swing, landing on the ground awkwardly. Oops, he thought as he checked his phone. No new texts from Kale. The (dorky) redhead was probably doing homework now.

I don't have permission to use the lyrics "ma anche per te, c'è una luce" and "che ad un'altra vita ti conduce" yet, but if medleypond doesn't want me to, I'll remove it!

**Kale is the only OC I've made, at least so far, so don't worry. He's a happy lil redhead and I'm working hard on fleshing him out!**


	3. Chapter 3

Nico was lying in bed. It was a Friday, but he didn't care whatsoever. It was also past time to go to school. Once again, he didn't care. He didn't feel like getting up. It was probably just one of those days.

Bzzzt. Nico checked his phone. Sadie had texted him. Why aren't you in school? Ugh. Sometimes Nico hated it when people cared. He started to reply, then deleted it. hi was all he said.

ugh. Sadie sent back, before texting gtg and nothing else. She was, of course, in school, so she shouldn't have texted him in the first place. Nico dropped his phone, which landed on the floor without a noisy sound effect. The case was rubber.

He supposed most people would be happy on a Friday, and it wasn't as if he was unhappy every Friday, but Nico wasn't most people anyway. School in general gave him anxiety, and not the kind of anxiety that every teenager got. I can't do finals, I haven't studied, and such.

He had the kind of anxiety where he broke down sometimes if he didn't know the answer. Some days Nico just knew he shouldn't go to school, and today was one of those days.

…

"So you didn't go to school today," Sadie says to him when she gets home. Nico's eating ice cream on the couch, watching Drop Dead Diva.

"Hm," he says, not looking away from the TV screen. Sadie sighs loudly and exits the room, dumping her bag on the floor.

…

He's fine the next day, which is ridiculous but he is. His bad days last from a day to a few, not a whole week like some people. Nico has his laptop next to him, so he grabs it and opens PhotoBooth for that one tag.

"Okay, I, um, I'm doing the PhotoBooth challenge. Sadie's doing one too, so if you wanna watch them side by side, check her channel. Let us begin…"

…

Nico doesn't do all vlogs. Sometimes he posts gameplay, like Sadie—though it's her main focus— but he never does a series. Until now, Sunday of May 2014, when Nico starts an LP.

The LP is the Walking Dead, and it doesn't take long for Nico to fail completely.

"And you guys wonder why I don't do gameplay," he mutters. "Honestly. I should just play the Sims. The Sims is easy."

"I'm gonna try again. Okay, I'm horrible at video games, is there some sort of Greek god for video games? I'm gonna say it's Hades. Guys, Hades is one of us. Really."

…

Nico still has his bad days but good days always follow. Usually, anyway.

**Sorry it's so short, I just wanted to post this to get it out of the way. The bunny died.**

**I have some of a chapter written up, but I still need to type it agh. The Hades idea goes to OwlFlight on ao3.**


	4. Chapter 4

Watching the dark haired boy was like watching a hilarious sit-com. Sadie remembered one time at recess the boy had asked a teacher if he could grab something from inside, and the teacher had said yes, but take a buddy. Because, y'know, they were in kindergarden, not eighth grade.

The boy had said, "No thanks," and walked inside. Brilliant, Sadie remembered thinking. That boy is effing brilliant.

…

The next week, on Monday, Sadie had approached him. It was late October by then.

"Hey," she had said, catching him as he walked home. He had glanced at her in suprise, obviously not expecting someone to talk to him voluntarily.

"Hi," he had said. "Uh, Sadie, right?"

Sadie had been surprised. "Uh, yeah. How'd you know?"

The boy's shoulders jerked, giving Sadie the impression that he was holding back a giggle. Giggle, such a girly word yet such a useful one…

"Drew's been complaining about you. Her and her gang." the boy had smirked then, as if remembering an inside joke. That made Sadieslightly uneasy.

"Of course," Sadie said with an ease she didn't quite have. "Sorry, I never caught your name. Care to tell me?"

"Nico," the boy said, glancing away from her. "I, uh, gotta go. See you?" It's like he doesn't want to talk to me, Sadie had thought, slightly annoyed.

"Kay," she said.

("Kay," Nico had whispered as he walked away. "What in Hades?")

…

The next day, Sadie joined him at the almost-empty lunch table.

"Hey," she said.

"Hi," Nico said, looking confused. "What're you doing here?"

Sadie raised her eyebrows. "I said I'd see you later, didn't I? It's later." she had never said that, but hopefully he wouldn't realize that.

He did. "I don't think you said that…" he said, frowning.

"Whatever," Sadie had shrugged.

…

Nico had, eventually, warmed up to her. Not enough to tell her his heritage outright, of course, but he did warm up to her. She had of course found out about the other gods, not by his mouth.

She had been walking (walking, because she was normal) home from school, and it was almost the end of the school year, when she heard a hiss behind her. Sadie froze, because in most cases hissing wasn't good. Apophis and all.

When Sadie turned around, a fanged-woman was lunging at her. Sadie began to recite a spell, only to find her magic supply alarmingly low and that Isis wasn't helping. She threw her arms in front of her, waiting for impact—

Nothing. The woman dissolved in the air.

"Sorry," said Nico di Angelo, a black sword in his hands.

….

"Some of my subscribers have been asking if you have a YouTube channel," Sadie said one day, in late June. He glanced at her.

"And you want me to make one?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"It'll be totally awesome," Sadie said, grinning at him. "Really. I'll promote you, too. Pleaaaaseee? I've always wanted a channel to do that whole one without the other thing with."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Fine, sure. I'll try."

"By try you mean you'll get addicted and never stop," Sadie said.

"Yeah."

…

Nico was a bit too secretive and sometimes shy for to hang out with all the time, but he was Sadie's best friend, and in her opinion, he would be in a pretty bad place without her.


	5. Chapter 5

Nico woke up at 3 am in a cold sweat. It was the third time that week he had had that dream, and though it was normal for demigods to dream of the future and present, his dream seemed to far-fetched to be real.

The dream, nightmare even, had been of the underworld overflowing with spirits. The line of ghosts waiting to be judged had always been long, sure, but never so much that the underworld was overflowing. The judges finished their jobs quickly.

Still, the dream scared Nico. He hadn't gone down under in a while—what if something had changed while he was away? What could have changed.

With those confusing thoughts in his mind, Nico drifted back into sleep.

…

Nico texted Thalia when he woke up. She got the latest news/gossip from Olympus, as she was one of Artemis' most trusted hunters. She might know if something is going on, he reasoned.

_Artemis said something about that, actually. the judgs of the dead retired or smthing _Thalia texted back a minute or so later. _you can ask ur dad _she added after a moment of no texting.

_no _Nico texted back. _iim trying to get away from the demogpf life, rm? _

_you didn't chose the demigod life _Thalia texted him. Nico winced, knowing what she was going to say. _the demigod life chose you_

Nico groaned.

…

He hesitately crept into the Underworld, knowing that any demigod might be on some sort of quest, and if it was one that knew him, he was screwed. Not literally, of course, most of the demigods he knew were straight.

Luckily, there were no living demigods in the Underworld, but there was a white mist and constant whispering. It took Nico a minute to realize that the mist was ghosts crowded around each other.

"What the…?" he muttered, stepping around a crying child ghost. He had to find Hades and figure out what was happening. Was the Underworld actually overflowing? It seemed almost impossible.

Nico's eyes darted around, looking for a way to find his father without having to go through ghosts. Not only was it uncomfortable for him and them, but touching ghosts gave him anxiety that he didn't quite understand.

He made it halfway through the death line before multiple ghosts passed through him. Nico fell to the ground, ashamed that ghosts would give the _son of Hades _this reaction. It didn't seem to happen to anyone else, but of course Nico was already prone to anxiety attacks.

A skeletal guard, one of the few who possessed a soul inside them, cleared the way and allowed Nico to stagger away from the Underworld.

He would have to learn what had happened another day.

…

Making videos for some reason helped Nico relax, and though he didn't have an actual topic for the video, he started recording and began to ramble.

"What if the moon duplicated itself and set itself on fire and that's the sun? I mean, I know that can't happen, but _still. _Also, where did the 'w' in tween come from? Would you be guilty if you murdered someone? I mean, accidently, and nobody knew? Like, 'oh no he fell down the stairs' but actually you pushed him down the stairs? What if you didn't like him?"

Nico continued to ramble as he slowly stopped shaking, and even when he hit stop he grabbed a soft pillow and a water bottle to calm down.

"Goddammit," he muttered. Stupid ghosts and their stupid… panic attack… making.

…

"I'm so fucking done with this game," Nico snapped, rage-quitting. He heard Kale's hardly supressed laughter and scowled.

"Shut up," he said. "I _will _end this Skype call and leave you to your boredness," he added threateningly. Kale snickered, before holding up his hands in defeat. Nico rolled his eyes.

"I'm horrible at the easiest games," he muttered, closing the application and opening Tumblr. After a few minutes of silence, he said, "You should come to America this summer,"

Kale quickly agreed and said that he probably would be able to, as his dad was extremely wealthy and didn't quite care what Kale did. Nico frowned at that. He knew that Kale's dad wasn't the best, but his own situation with Hades made Kale's worse.

Nico wasn't sure if Kale was a demigod—if he was, his mother was most likely a minor goddess. It didn't really matter, though. Kale was still undeniably a cute redhead.

"Hm," Nico said, realizing that he had, once again, been silent for a while, and this time not because of Tumblr. He scrolled upwards and did a minor in-bed victory dance when he realized he had 1 message. On his _DeathAngelo _blog, he got quite a few, but his personal didn't.

Nico was still putting off the whole _Underworld _thing, but he didn't care.


End file.
